A person identifying themselves only as “Chris” called into a NY1 TV show, said that he is a Muslim and wants Sharia law in the U.S. and believes homosexuals should be beheaded. If this person is really a Muslim, then he is a hateful homophobic bigot, and part of the Muslim lunatic fringe who knows nothing about Sharia. If this person is not a Muslim, then he is a hateful homophobic and anti-Muslim bigot attempting to “kill two birds with one stone” by insulting two communities.

Of course, this is the sort of major story that Pamela Geller and her cohorts jumped on. Geller wrote NY Muslim Calls for Beheading Of Gays on NY1 TV show and she commented “But leaders of the Gay community condemn me for attempting to increase awareness of the Muslim oppresion [sic] of gays under the sharia. It reminds me of the refusal of the gay community to close the bath houses when the AIDS epidemic was spreading like wildfire.”

Geller seems to believe that if any Muslim anywhere does or says something condemnable, they must have done it because of Islam (there are never any other factors), and whatever they did reflects on all Muslims everywhere. A careful reading of Geller’s comment above points to the very real possibility that she applies the same broad brush to the gay community. “It reminds me of the refusal of the gay community to close the bath houses when the AIDS epidemic was spreading like wildfire.” Which gay community and where? What evidence that this happened? Are “bath houses” a central focus of the lifestyle for most gay people? Did the entire “gay community” refuse to close the bath houses? Were all the bath houses owned by gay individuals?

Geller’s one sentence raises these and many more questions. Back in 1985 the NYT reported on bath houses and the AIDS epidemic in New York. A few highlights from that article: - attendance at bath houses had decreased by as much as 50% - some bath houses remained open but many had closed - members of the gay community “are increasingly calling for the closing of the baths, and many are criticizing homosexuals who profit from their operation” - “Both Governor Cuomo and Mayor Koch are reconsidering their positions that such places, licensed by the city’s Health Department, are useful forums for educating homosexuals about the sexual practices that spread acquired immune deficiency syndrome, which is usually fatal.” - Most bath houses are owned by individuals who are not homosexuals.

It doesn’t sound to me as if the “gay community” refused to do, or were responsible for - anything. Perhaps some individuals behaved badly or irresponsibly, but that does not reflect on the entire community. Gay people, just like Muslim people are not “The Borg”.

Persecuting homosexuals, denying them their rights, or considering homosexuality to be a crime, or a death penalty offence is wrong. Homophobia is wrong. The sad fact that all over the world gays have been persecuted and killed, often in the name of religion is a tragedy. Right here in the U.S. the most recent FBI hate crimes report states that hate crimes against gays now outnumber hate crimes against religion. And, the highest number of anti-gay murders ever was reported in 2011. You can find Muslims taking extremist homophobic positions based on their interpretations of scripture, and you can find Christians and Jews taking the same extremist positions. You can find homophobia and bigotry among all the Abrahamic faiths. All of these extremists are wrong. All bigots must be condemned, and the rights of all people defended. Muslims have done so. For example, in Britain, Muslim MP’s voted for marriage equality, and Omid Safi has strongly spoken for that equality in the U.S. Both Muslim Congressmen, Keith Ellison and Andre Carson have come out in favor of marriage equality.

... It does not seem reasonable to quote Sheik Qaradawi without mentioning that over 2,500 Muslim intellectuals from 23 countries not only called for an international treaty to counter such clerics, but also called for a tribunal set by the United Nations Security Council to put them on trial for inciting violence.

It is also noteworthy that Muslim Professor Scott Kugle argues in an academic article that Sheik Qaradawi churns out his homophobia as part of “an agenda to reinforce perceived threats to Muslim masculinity.”

Here are just a few examples of extremist homophobes from the Abrahamic faiths who must be countered and marginalized:

EDL Rabbi Nachum Shifren’s statements on “God’s Command to Kill Homosexuals”. The Uganda anti-homosexuality bill with a death penalty for homosexuality - which many American Christian groups have encouraged and supported. Rev. Fred Phelps, of the Westboro Baptist Church who teaches that “God hates fags”, “Thank God for 9/11”, “Thank God for dead soldiers”, “Fags are worthy of death” (and bases this on Romans 1:32). Rev. Curtis Knapp, the Kansas Pastor who said “the Government Should Kill Gays”. Rev. Charles L. Worley, the North Carolina Pastor who said we “should put Gays And Lesbians in an electrified pen to kill them off”. Rev. Phillip G. Kayser, a pastor at the Dominion Covenant Church in Nebraska who authored a paper arguing for criminalizing homosexuality and even advocated imposing the death penalty against offenders based on his reading of Biblical law. Rabbi Shmuel Pappenheim, editor of the Eida Haredit’s weekly magazine “Ha’eidah” and the Rabbinical Court in Israel held a special session and discussed placing a pulsa danura on those who have a hand in organizing a gay march. (this is a curse of death). Rabbi Yaakov Teitel, a West Bank rabbi from Florida who released a book giving Jews permission to kill Gentiles who threaten Israel, and who also distributed leaflets in a religious neighborhood of Jerusalem praising a deadly shooting attack on gays and lesbians. Pastor Steven Anderson of Tempe, AZ who said: “If you’re a homosexual, I hope you get brain cancer like Ted Kennedy”. The gunman who killed two people and wounded at least 10 at a gay support centre in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv. Yishai Shlisel who stabbed three gay pride parade goers in Israel. The bombing of a vineyard near Beit Shemesh in Israel which police might have been carried out by ultra-Orthodox residents of the nearby Ramat Beit Shemesh in response to a gay pride parade. Shalom Peretz who attempted an anti-gay attack at a screening of a gay documentary in a café in Jerusalem. Rep. James Lankford (R-OK) who said he believes someone should be able to be fired for his or her sexual orientation as “it’s a choice issue”. Bryan Fischer of the American Family Assoc. who called for homosexuality to be made illegal in the U.S. Rep. Steve King (R-IA) who proposed a don’t ask don’t tell approach in the workplace. Etc. etc. etc.

Muslim homophobes, Christian homophobes, Jewish homophobes - are all condemnable. They exist, and we need to do whatever we can to educate or marginalize them. However, they do not represent the beliefs of a majority of Christians, or Jews, or Muslims. They are not representative of any religion. Extremist statements and acts should not be labeled “Islamic”, “Jewish”, or “Christian”, as that only validates the false claims of the perpetrators who may attempt to provide a false religious justification for bigotry and injustice. Only a bigot like Pamela Geller could attempt to tarnish the entire religion of Islam, and all Muslims with the acts and beliefs of individuals. And, no matter how many times she claims that she is not attacking all Muslims, her actual actions and statements belie that claim. For example, just today she published an article on Pope Francis washing the feet of 12 people on Maundy Thursday (this is part of the Christian tradition, mirroring Jesus’ washing of his disciples’ feet). This year, women, and two Muslims were included. Women and non-Christians have never before been included in the ritual. Geller did not find this to be a wonderful example of tolerance and coexistence. Geller said “While millions of Christians are being oppressed, persecuted and slaughtered under Islamic law ...... this is stomach-churning dhimmitude. This isn’t merely a lack of leadership; this is betrayal on an unimaginable level. Kill my people and I will wash and kiss your feet. For jihadists, this image could very well replace the burning twin towers as iconic of Islamic imperialism and conquest.” These two Muslim women are not responsible for the acts of individuals who have murdered others - unless Geller believes all Muslims are responsible for the acts of any Muslim. If that is the case, then do Islamophobes like Pamela Geller, David Horowitz, Steven Emerson, Daniel Pipes, etc. represent all Jews?

The journalist, Chris Stedman (who identifies himself as a “queer atheist”) has written an excellent response to Geller’s ads Stop trying to split gays and Muslims. Here are just a few key passages from his article:

... I discovered that Geller recently announced plans to run a series of anti-Muslim advertisements in San Francisco quoting Muslim individuals making anti-LGBT statements. Why? Because members of San Francisco’s LGBT community criticized other anti-Muslim ads she has run there.
I tweeted my appreciation that the LGBT community in San Francisco is standing up against her efforts to drive a wedge between LGBT folks and Muslims. Soon after, Geller retweeted me, claiming that she in fact has “huge support in Gay community.” Immediately, her supporters began to lob insults and even threats at me; Spencer himself suggested that I should be rewarded for supporting Muslims by someone “saw[ing] off [my] head.” (Meanwhile, though Geller, Spencer and their supporters kept tweeting at me that Muslims “hate gays” and want to kill me, many Muslim friends and strangers alike tweeted love and support for LGBT equality at me.)

... I couldn’t think of a single LGBT person in my life that would support her work, but I didn’t want to go off of my own judgment alone. So I started asking around. It wasn’t hard to find prominent members of the LGBT community who do not share Geller’s views.

“The idea that the LGBT community should support Islamophobia is offensive and absurd,” said Joseph Ward III, director of Believe Out Loud, an organization that empowers Christians to work for LGBT equality. “[American Muslims] are our allies as we share a common struggle to overcome stereotypes and misconceptions in America.”

“Trying to drive a wedge between the LGBT community and other communities is old, tired and [it] doesn’t work,” said Ross Murray, director of News and Faith Initiatives for GLAAD. “Pitting two communities [like the Muslim and LGBT communities] against one another is an attempt to keep both oppressed. Wedge strategies are offensive and, in the long run, they do not work. Geller is not an LGBT ally — she’s posing as one because it is convenient to her [anti-Muslim] agenda.”

“As with any attempts at a wedge, these efforts seek to erase the real and powerful reality of LGBT Muslims and seek to create a false dichotomy: All the LGBT people are non-Muslim/Islamophobic and all the Muslims are straight and homophobic,” said Rev. Rebecca Voelkel, program director of the Institute for Welcoming Resources at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. “Particularly given the oppression, marginalization, hatred and violence visited upon the LGBTQ community, it is critically important that we use our spiritual, communal and political power to speak out against the victimization and vilification of any other community. As a Christian lesbian, I must stand against any attempts to victimize another because of their personhood.”

“There’s no doubt that there’s a great deal of religion-based bigotry against LGBT people, although it’s hardly limited to Islam. The Hebrew Scriptures also prescribe the death penalty for some homosexual conduct, but you don’t typically see people using this to inflame anti-Semitic or anti-Christian sentiment,” said John Corvino, author of “What’s Wrong With Homosexuality?” and coauthor of “Debating Same-Sex Marriage.” “To single out Muslims in this way is both unhelpful and unfair.”

Despite her claim, the work of Geller and her colleagues has plenty of opposition in the LGBT community. Why?

...

“There’s no question that homophobia is rampant among the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims — but that doesn’t negate the fact that there are huge groups of Muslims who have easily reconciled their faith and sexual orientation, like LGBT people in other faith communities,” said Reza Aslan, author of “No God but God” and “Beyond Fundamentalism,” in a recent phone interview. “For a woman who leads an organization that has been labeled a hate group to try to reach out to a community like the LGBT community, by trying to make a connection based on bigotry, is harmful and ridiculous. Bigotry is not a bridge.”

Of course, members of the LGBT community are right to be concerned about the dangers of religious extremism and totalitarianism — whether it is Christian, Muslim or any other expression. But demonizing another community won’t help reduce the influence of religious fundamentalism.

You can be honest about your disagreements without being hateful. I’m a queer atheist, and I believe that there are ideas and practices promoted by Muslims in the name of Islam that are not only false — they’re extremely harmful. But to rally against Muslims and Islam as if they and it are some monolithic bloc is counterproductive; it creates enemies where we need allies. There are many Muslims who oppose cruelty and violence done in the name of Islam and favor equality for all people, and they are positioned to create change. We should be working with them, not standing against all of Islam. Based on my own experiences, I know that this is a much more constructive approach. In my book “Faitheist,” I tell several stories about Muslim friends who are not only accepting of my sexual orientation, but are also fierce allies for LGBT equality.

That’s the problem with Geller’s advertisements, and with sweeping, generalizing statements about entire groups of people: They don’t account for the diversity of ideas and traditions that exist within any given community. Geller focuses on a ridiculously tiny minority of Muslim extremists in order to paint her picture of Islam, and in doing so she neglects to account for the rich and varied traditions of generosity, selflessness, social progress and forgiveness present within Islam. Not only that, but her efforts alienate key allies — Muslim and non-Muslim alike — who share her concerns about Muslim extremists, but who also recognize that her narrow approach is unfair and dishonest. ...

Please read Chris Stedman’s full article and thank him for standing up against all bigotry.

As with anyone who speaks out, Chris Stedman is already being attacked byRobert Spencer as a “leftist” “eager to collaborate with Islamic supremacists”, “having a shared taste for authoritarianism”, an “enemy of free speech”, etc. He is also attacked by Spencer’s partner, Pamela Geller as a “nasty little man” “justifying Muslim oppression of gays under the Sharia”, etc. Geller also called those gays who are opposed to her ads “gay lackeys shilling for Sharia” and “gays for sharia”.

Geller and Spencer are upset that so many well known individuals who are respected in the gay community find the AFDI/SIOA ads offensive, and Geller insists that she does have “huge support” in the gay community and as proof she offers the testimony of Michael Lucas (a gay pornography star), a gay person who wrote a Facebook post supporting Geller, a gay activist Mark Koenig, a few other individuals who happen to be gay, Patti York a gay person who belongs to her hate group SIOA (and Geller says is in their LGBT division and who is quoted as saying she “sees islam [sic] for what it really is, a real threat to every human being on the planet.” And that Islam “is an embarassment to all of us with a conscience.”). Koenig may be gay, but he is also an Islamophobe, as Geller quotes him as saying about Islam - “the evil ideology that is Islam”. This fits right in with the hateful anti-Muslim attitudes expressed by other individuals affiliated with AFDI/SIOA. The article AFDI/SION’s Leadership: Arrests & Scandals documents these statements. It seems as if AFDI/SIOA/SION draws bigots from every community to represent it.

Geller and Spencer are also upset that he refers to the SPLC designation of their group as a hate group. Actually lots of respectable people make this judgement. The ADL has designated Pamela Geller & Robert Spencer’s Stop the Islamization of America (SIOA) as a “group that promotes an extreme anti-Muslim agenda”, and characterizes Geller as someone who “disseminates virulent anti-Muslim bigotry and conspiracy theories”. The Southern Poverty Law Center has designated AFDI/SIOA as an anti-Muslim hate group, and characterizes Geller as “the anti-Muslim movement’s most visible and flamboyant figurehead”. Many respected leaders in the American Jewish community have spoken out about their group and their ad series. In fact, journalists, Christian groups, interfaith groups, and many others have spoken out against the ad series and consider them to be anti-Muslim.

... But if Geller really is such a BFF to gay people, why in the world would she have agreed to speak at this year’s “The Awakening” event, an extreme religious right gathering that also features the most radical anti-gay hate groups in America?

Michele Bachmann is one of only two elected politicians who are scheduled to speak at this year’s annual “The Awakening,” described as “an in-depth Prayer and Patriotism event where people are united by our love for our country’s freedom and our faith in Christ.”

The Republican U.S. Congresswoman has increasingly aligned herself officially with anti-gay and anti-Islam events and organizations, including accepting a position on the board of directors of the anti-gay Thomas More Law Center. The only other elected official scheduled to speak is five-term Congressman Steve Pearce (R-NM).

This year’s “The Awakening” features speakers from certified anti-gay and anti-Islam hate groups, including Ken Blackwell and Jerry Boykin of the Family Research Council, Bradlee Dean, founder of You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International, Andrea Lafferty, Executive Director of the Traditional Values Coalition, and Pamela Geller, president of the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI) and Stop Islamization of America (SIOA), along with SIOA board member Jim Lafferty.

[…] Several other scheduled speakers are from well-known anti-gay organizations whose main focus includes working against same-sex marriage and engaging in active campaigns against homosexuality: Richard Land, President of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission - National Organization For Marriage’s (NOM) Bishop Harry Jackson - Cindy Jacobs - Pastor Rick Joyner of MorningStar Ministries - Janet Porter, Founder and President of Faith2Action - Greg Quinlan, President of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX) - Pastor Rick Scarborough, Founder of Vision America - Korie Kapal of the Florida Family Policy Council, which is associated with Focus on the Family - Many come from the Liberty Counsel, chief sponsor of The Awakening, and their closely related “sister” organization, Liberty University, including Matt Barber, Dean Shawn Akers, Judith Reisman, and Mat Staver.

It makes perfect sense for right wing anti-Muslim hate groups to join forces with right wing anti-gay hate groups. From their perspective, the more hate and fear they can generate, the better.

Daniel Pipes is encouraging publication of “A Muhammad cartoon a day”, and says “So, this is my plea to all Western editors and producers: Display the Muhammad cartoon daily, until the Islamists become accustomed to the fact that we turn sacred cows into hamburger.”. Pipes joins Daniel Greenfield (aka Sultan Knish) who published an appeal on David Horowitz’ Front Page Magazine Is It Time for ‘Make Your Own Mohammed Movie Month’?. And, both are following in the footsteps of such luminaries as Pamela Geller, who promoted just such a plan back in 2010 with her promotion of Draw Muhammad Day, even after the cartoonist who drew the first cartoon and suggested the idea, Molly Norris apologized to Muslims and asked for the day to be called off, and American Muslims had issued a defense of free speech. None of this is surprising as one of the Islamophobes laid out their strategy as “The Muslims themselves have shown us their most vulnerable spot, which is the questionable (though unquestioned) character of the ‘Prophet’ himself. We need to satirise and ridicule baby-bonking Mo until the Muslims fly into uncontrollable tantrums, then ridicule them even more for their tantrums, and repeat the process until they froth at the mouth and steam comes out of their ears.”

Everyone “knows” that Islam is a monolith and all Muslims are the same, like the “Borg”. This means that every act committed by an individual who is a Muslim is directly attributable to Islam, and never because the individual is crazy, criminal, or perverted.

Everyone “knows” that Muslims are like the Fascists and Nazis and that in fact they supported those movements.

The problem is that what “everyone knows” is wrong. These self-righteous and incorrect statements are usually followed by a demand that the Muslim community do something about whatever is the false flag of the day or face the inevitable consequences.